Thursday, January 17, 2013

Mixed vegetable Sambar with ground masala / Arachivittu sambar

Rice is a staple in South Indian food and usually had as every course of the meal, with different accompaniments each course. In a daily meal, the rice is had first with sambar, then rasam and then curds. Some variations may be a flavoured rice like raw mango rice, tamarind rice, lemon rice, etc...
There are many other accompaniments, like mor kulambu, vatral kolambu or kootu but these form the basic ones. A dry vegetable is served with this, along with fried papad.

People who are not used to eating a typical South Indian meal could find the rice a bit too much, but for a South Indian, it is the perfect homely comfort food.

Sambar is usually made with ready sambar powder, which could either be store bought or home-made. A variation of this is arachivittu sambar which is made with a fresh masala, made of spices and coconut. The vegetables that go into this mixed vegetable sambar are usually brinjal, drumsticks and sweet pumpkin. You can make this using sambar powder instead of the ground masala, but the flavour and texture would be different

Since Pongal is a celebration of the harvest season, the locally grown vegetables are used in the sambar. I made this sambar with potatoes, brinjals, drumstick and sweet pumpkin. Have this with steaming hot rice and a dollop of ghee to begin the hearty South Indian meal

Pressure cook the tur dal with a little turmeric till its all soft. Mash and allow it to cool
Fry the coriander seeds, red chillies, chana dal, methi and grind along with the coconut to a smooth paste
If using the tamarind paste, add it to a few tablespoons of water to extract the tamarind pulp
In a deep pan, cook the vegetables in the tamarind water / pulp
Allow the vegetables to cook and then add the salt and ground masala
Add the dal and cook till its thick
Pop the mustard seeds and asafoetida in a little oil
Add curry leaves and then pour over the sambar
Serve with hot rice and some ghee